Strong field expected for Canberra's National Sprint on Black Opal Stakes Day

If it wasn't for last year's National Sprint, this year's edition could be one of the strongest yet.

Of the 23 nominations for the listed 1400-metre race on Black Opal Stakes Day, 12 have won or placed at group or listed level.

The Paul Jones-trained Mercurial Lad will run in a strong Canberra Cup.Credit:bradleyphotos.com.au

It had Jones predicting Sunday's running of the feature sprint at Canberra's Thoroughbred Park would be just as strong as the 2017 race.

That launched Canberra-owned Happy Clapper's brilliant year, starting off with a second to Gold Symphony in the National Sprint before finishing as a group 1 winner - who'd also been part of supermare Winx's third straight Cox Plate victory.